Love Notes

Photo of Malia Burns and Bill Kiolbasa near their home in Chicago on Thursday, June 21, 2012. (Terrence Antonio James, Chicago Tribune / June 21, 2012)

By Christmas, less than four months after they met, they were telling each other, "I love you."

When the school year ended, Malia, who is now 28, moved to Chicago. She got a job teaching in a charter school network. And Bill, also 28, an accountant, became so compelled by her passion for helping students that he took a charter school accounting job to help the school make the best choices on where to spend its limited funds.

When she was ping-ponging between Bill and Malia, matchmaker Aunt Cindy's parting words were, "Invite us to your wedding."

And so they did.

Bill Kiolbasa and Malia Burns were married July 7 on Orcas Island, off the coast of Washington, north of Seattle.

The guests got a laugh when they read the wedding program. It was imprinted with a quote from Bill — something he told Malia on the dance floor, 30 minutes after that first meeting:

"I want to be an honest gentleman about this, so I need to tell you that I don't think anything truly romantic could happen from meeting at a wedding."

ewarren@tribune.com

Love

lesson

Matchmakers, be brave! Sometimes your efforts will be rejected, disparaged or ignored. But once in a while, even when the singles are reluctant, wonderful things can happen.